Sustainability Opportunities and Barriers at Universities, Development of a Sustainable University Environment

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the most crucial environmental, social, and economic questions is how to build a sustainable future for the following generations. This is a vital challenge because we live in a historical age due to the over-utilization of CO2-intensive technologies. Thanks to this practice, greenhouse gas emission is increasing yearly; biodiversity is decreasing dramatically. It is essential for our environment that universities play a leading role in the actions that can eliminate these adverse effects. This paper introduces the status of the uptake of sustainability-related issues and targets in the Higher Education (HE) sector. It emphasizes the necessity of the comparable evaluation of these activities by introducing current sustainability ranking systems. Some barriers disable the transition to a sustainable working model for universities. The paper identifies these barriers and makes suggestions for eliminating them through the example of Széchenyi István University’s practice and sustainability action plan. The main obstacles to sustainability in the HE sector incorporate budget constraints, resistance to change, lack of planning and focus, lack of applicability, and continuity of actions. The suggested sixteen action points in this paper could support the immediate change in the attitude to sustainability-related topics at operational levels. These suggestions support the attitude formation at each level of the decision-making process.